Honey Glass
by Airi Tsukino
Summary: After fighting an extremely powerful enemy, Team Fairy Tail returns to the guild defeated and on death's door. Lucy, however, returns with minimal physical injury, ridden with guilt and remorse. She finds herself conflicted after she journeys to become stronger, find where her heart lies! Set after GMG, omitting Eclispe and 7 Dragons. Rated T for swearing.
1. Aftermath

"Lucy! Watch out!" Gray cried as he jumped in front of the dazed blonde who lay on the floor and quickly summoned an ice shield. The blast melted straight through the barrier without slowing and barreled toward the young ice mage. Lucy barely registered it as the attack hit Gray directly in the chest before he had time to block and in seconds he was crumbled at the blonde's feet.

()

"You're hurt! I'll heal you, Lucy-san!" Wendy crouched over the wounded Lucy, her skilled hands closing the celestial mage's injuries swiftly. She got up after healing Lucy and was surprised by a mage charging at her. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy cried, but only a weak trickle of wind was produced. The dragon slayer's eyes became as round as saucers before, with all her energy gone, she took the attack full-force and was knocked back into the wall with a crash.

()

"You won't hurt my namaka!" Erza shouted, her swords flashing as she cut down arrow after arrow, her red pants flapping wildly in the downpour. Broken arrows lay askew around Titania's feet, but arrows kept coming and soon enough, several were able to make it past her iron defense. An arrow lodged itself in her upper arm, yanking her right arm back, weakening her defence for long enough for three arrows to bury themselves into the mage's side. One purple arrow managed to hit Erza's hip, the poison in the lacrima arrowhead releasing. The scarlet-haired woman clutched at her arrow, breaking the shaft in her struggles, lodging the venom-laced arrowhead deeper into her side. Titania fell, the toxin coursing through her body. Lucy stood behind her, unable to help as she scrambled to find her dropped keys.

()

Purple light filled Lucy's vision as pain racked her body. The light faded and Lucy smelled scorched flesh, knowing it was her own. She struggled to stand through the pain, even though just blinking sent waves of agony through the young mage. As violet light once again lit the gruesome scene, Lucy braced herself for the worst, clamping her eyes shut tightly and trying to disconnect her brain from her nerves. After a moment, the mage realized the pain did not come for a second time. Hesitantly opening her eyes, the blonde was just in time to see a certain pink-haired dragon slayer fall, his chest burning with faint wisps of smoke emitting from the burning wound. The celestial mage came to the realization that this man had taken the strike in place of her. When his head bounced as it hit the cold stone floor, Lucy couldn't contain her cry.

"Natsu!"

()

Lucy gathered the last drops of magical energy she had and retrieved two keys from her pouch, "Open! Gate of the Goat! Capricorn! Open! Gate of the Lion! Loke!"

The two spirits appeared in front of their master, only to be assaulted by the current state of their owner. Realizing that Lucy was running on the last of her energy, Loke and Capricorn quickly switched to holding the gate open themselves as not to drain anymore of Lucy's magical power. Together, the Zodiac spirits picked up the barely conscious blonde and her unconscious team-mates and started off to Magnolia, to Fairy Tail.

()

"Gray... Wendy... Erza... Natsu..." Lucy choked out, looking at her still unconscious namaka, cradling her injured arm.

Porlyusica looked at the distressed girl with a touch of sympathy in her normally cold eyes, "They're sleeping now. They'll be waking up within the next twelve hours." She had said before reverting to her old, cranky self, "Now get out and let the patients rest!"

Lucy scrambled out of the infirmary and when she had gotten out of the door, she turned around. In the rapidly shrinking crack of the closing door, Porlyusica brushed Wendy's blue bangs off of her forehead, gazing down at the young dragon slayer with concern coloring her reddish eyes. Lucy turned away as the door shut, walking out towards the guild hall, her own eyes moist before she blinked the still-forming tears away.

As Lucy came into sight, Mira, Levy, Juvia, and several others crowded around her.

"Lucy! You're awake! Let me get you a strawberry milkshake!"

"Lu-chan! Are you alright?"

"Juvia is glad to see that Lucy is awake now, but more importantly... Gray-sama is okay, right?!"

"Lucy, are you okay?" "Lucy! How are the others?" "How are you feeling, Lucy?" "Lucy!" "Lucy?" "Lucy."

The blonde in question smiled meekly and held up her good arm, "Guys, guys! I am fine, can you give me some space? Please? And Mira, a strawberry milkshake sounds delicious. With a hint of vanilla?"

Mira smiled brightly at the recovering mage, "Of course!" Lucy followed the woman to the bar.

When the white-haired barmaid presented Lucy with her milkshake, the blond took the glass gratefully and took a long, luxurious sip of the frozen drink, letting the familiar taste calm her nerves. She heard Levy sit down next to her at the bar, but she did not turn when the bookworm ordered a drink for herself (Iced green tea and blueberries). Lucy placed her glass on the counter and spun around on the stool, leaning against the bar top. The young mage looked up at the guildhall and observed her guild mates as they meandered around, going about daily life.

Elfman and Ever were trying to be discreet by talking behind a pillar, but Elfman was too big and the green of Ever's outfit just made them even more conspicuous. Macao and Wakaba were arguing over some bet and Droy was stuffing his face just down the table. Both Jet and Gajeel were looking at a certain bluenette sitting next to Lucy and Romeo was playing with Asuka. Bickslow and his 'babies' were begging Freed to play with them, but Freed was too busy fawning over a bored Laxus to comply. Lucy allowed her head to loll back toward the ceiling before closing her eyes and letting her thoughts drift. Images from the previous day's fight surfaced, the smell of blood, sweat, and burnt flesh filled her nose and she could hear the screams and the maniacal laughter.

"Lu-chan? Are you sure you're okay?" Levy's voice had Lucy's head popping back up and her eyes snapping open.

"Levy-chan." Lucy complained, her hand clutched over her rapidly beating heart, "You scared me."

Levy looked at the blonde in concern as her mouth twisted into a frown, "You had a pained expression on your face and you were shivering." When her best friend did not respond, the bookworm's expression softened, "It was that bad?"

Lucy nodded softly before taking another long sip of her milkshake, after which she heard the call from across the guild.

"Levy! Droy and I found a good mission!"

Levy smiled apologetically at her friend, resting a hand on the blonde's shoulder, "Sorry Lu-chan. I'll talk to you tomorrow, 'kay? We have a nice long chat over some ice cream."

"Yeah. that sounds nice." Lucy returned the smile before the bookworm ran off to meet her team. "Ne, Jet, why do we have to start a job now? I mean, it's already so late..."

Her smile dropped off her face as Levy walked out of the guild, the sunset illuminating her and her celestial mage looked up and down the empty bar counter before allowing her thoughts to once more wander. Lucy was seeing the man's face as he laughed at their pain for about the thousandth time before she heard:

"Hey, Lucy, can I ask you a question?"

Lucy looked up to see Lisanna taking a seat next to her, "What's up, Lisanna?"

Lisanna held the blonde's chocolate gaze with her own sapphire ones before breaking eye contact and saying, "Well... how exactly did Natsu get burned? I would ask him myself, but seeing as he's not exactly conscious..." Lisanna trailed off, meeting Lucy's gaze once more.

Lucy gulped, "Well... the man we were battling..." _Welcome to my playhouse_ "We were overpowered and all heavily injured..."_ Hahaha!_ _This is the most fun I've had in ages! Your pain is so delightful_! "I had been bombarded with his magical blasts and I was at the end of my rope..." _I just love the smell of burning flesh!_ "Just as he was about to finish me off with one more blast..." _You'll make a wonderful doll for my collection!_ "Natsu stepped in the way..." _I won't let you hurt Lucy anymore._ "And took the blast without any defense... He fell..." _Natsu! NATSU!_

Lisanna looked at Lucy, who was shaking her her boots, terrifying images whizzing past her vision. Lisanna's mouth twisted into a frown, "Oh. So it's your fault."

Lucy's head snapped up, her brown eyes wide with surprise. Lisanna just looked down at her as she stood, her blue eyes looking distastefully at the blonde. The white-haired woman turned and walked away, her heels clicking on the wooden floor as she made her way toward the infirmary. Just as the heavy wooden door closed, Lucy heard the remark of youngest Strauss sibling.

"Pathetic."

The blonde was unable to do anything but sit slumped at the counter, her milkshake melting. After a moment, she blinked slowly and rose in a daze, her eyes clouded over. She walked out of the guild and through the streets of Magnolia, just wandering. Lucy didn't walk along the edge canal and the men in the boats didn't call out to warn her. Her mind did not register anything as she walked up the stairs to her apartment or as she unlocked her door and walked in. The only thing Lucy remembered between Lisanna disappearing into the infirmary and arriving at her home was Lisanna's words. They echoed in her head like a broken music box, playing over and over and over.

_"So it's your fault."_

_"It's your fault."_

_"Your fault."_

_"Pathetic."_

"Lucy! You're back!" The blue Exceed cheered as the blonde shuffled into her apartment, "How's Natsu?"

Lucy's head snapped up and her chocolate eyes were clouded with confusion before she recognized the bright Exceed flying above her. It took her a moment to register his question and she looked up at him with dead eyes before replying, "He's still asleep."

"Oh." Happy said, deflated, "So he's still out, huh."

The Exceed turned his back on the dazed blonde and hovered in the air, wrangling with his thoughts. Carla flitted about, musing about just why she couldn't go home just because Wendy was still unconscious. She looked up at the blonde woman as she walked in, her mouth open as if she were going to say something, but the blonde's zombie-like aura had her closing her mouth.

Silence fell about the small apartment as the three worried about their injured namaka. The sunset illuminated the quiet room in red light and the slight breeze brought a certain chill to the air that reached deep into the residents bones. The curtains flapped gently in the wind, but no one bothered to get up and close the window. Lucy blinked and brought her eyes to Happy, who was shaking where he was flying, tears welling up in his eyes, and she recalled what he had went through in that hell.

_"Natsu, get up. Natsu, you always get up to defeat the enemy. Natsu, you have to get up." The Exceed cried, tugging on his partner's shirt, "You have to get up... NATSU! PLEASE, JUST GET UP!"_

_"What do we have here?" the man approached Happy, a malicious glint in his eyes, "A cute little cat calling for his master. Well, let's hear you call for him some more!"_

_Yellow light shined around the man's finger and hit Natsu's unconscious body, over and over and over, making little red marks appear. Where the light hit twice, the wound would start trickling blood. Happy looked up at the man, hurt and anger burning in his wide black eyes. "How dare you..." The Exceed muttered, "How dare you!" Happy charged at the man, small, blue fists flying._

_The man cackled and hit Happy, sending him flying across the room. Happy rose, dazed and injured, but once again charged at the man, determination set like stone in his eyes. The blue Exceed was knocked back over and over, first with magical blasts, but eventually with just a flick on the man's wrist, but still, Happy stood up and ran at the man. Tears clouded Happy's eyes as he kept flying at him, as he kept shouting, "Make Natsu wake up!"_

"Damn that man!" A small thud was produced as Happy hit the wall with his small fists, shaking some small bottles on a nearby shelf.

Lucy blinked up at him in surprise, she had never seen Happy so... frustrated. He had a black aura surrounding him as he cursed the man over and over, punching the wall. Carla closed her eyes and listened to Happy's ranting, her own fists clenched in anger. Her brow became more and more furrowed before her eyes snapped open and she shouted, "Happy! Enough! Saying mean things about... that man won't make the problems go away!" The Exceed's brown eyes swam in tears, "It won't heal Natsu, it won't heal Wendy! It won't kill that man either! We can't do anything!" Carla broke, her voice cracking and her tears overflowing as she fell to the ground, shaking her white head that she held in her paws.

Happy was about to defend himself, but then he was the two women's faces; Carla bawling, drowning in her own tears and Lucy's eyes dead, void of even the slightest bit of moisture. Defeated, the Exceed allowed his wings to fade as he floated to the ground, landing on his back. Staring at his tiny paws, his eyes welled up with tears, "Natsu... Come home okay, got it." The tears plopped on his hands, first the occasional tear, but then it grew into a waterfall.

"WAHHHH!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I feel that the "Lucy leaves" StiCy stores get a bad rep due to some bad writing within the idea. I personally think it's a wonderful story idea and this story's goal is for me to write a "Lucy leaves" StiCy story following along similar lines as other, which pretty much entails that Lucy leaves Fairy Tail in angst or hurt, a fair amount of times because of Lisanna, she meets Sting, joins Sabertooth, and then goes and kicks some ass. I'm not saying my story will follow along those exact lines, but it will be similar. I'm not trying to make fun of the other stories, but I want to see if people like my writing style and if I can manage to pull off a decent "Lucy leaves" story.

ALSO:

I would love to see your guys' interpretations of the antagonist whom Team Fairy Tail fought, and one lucky design will be featured, but all others will be featured at one time or another. If you would like to submit one, you can find my email on my profile.

R&R!


	2. Guilt

The guild was quiet as Lucy shuffled in. Mira was wiping down the bar while a few other people mulled about. The moon hung bright and full through the window as the stars were scattered about the sky. Almost everyone had gone home for the night so only a handful people sat at the tables. The blonde made her way toward the back of the guild, ignoring the various calls of 'Hey, Lucy!'. A heavy oak door stood in the way of Lucy, a single torch cast ghostly shadows across the walls. Her hand reached out and grabbed the brass doorknob, turning it and silently opening the door. Slipping in through the crack between the door and the frame, Lucy stepped into the dim room.

Six beds lined the walls, four of them occupied. The white bandages seemed to glow in the moonlight, illuminating the various injuries on each patient. Another shape was slumped in a chair, their upper body resting on the bed where a certain pink-haired dragon slayer was resting. Lisanna's chest rose and fell, her hand rested in the occupant's, even as both of them were sleeping. The celestial mage hadn't moved from where she had entered the room, the door still partly open, everything as it had been. The curtains flapped gently as the cool night air was let in through the open window.

A little drop of water fell at Lucy's feet, accompanied by a second and a third and a fourth. The blonde's head was bowed, her bangs obscuring her chocolate eyes that were swimming in tears. Tear after tear rolled silently down her cheek and her shoulders heaved with the muted sobs. No sound passed from her lips as she shakily sunk to the ground, holding her face in her hands, ignoring the pain from her injured right arm. Teardrops slipped through her fingers, briefly gleaming in the white light before hitting the ground.

Lucy pulled her hands from her face and looked at their trembling form. Her right arm was covered in white bandages, one of the only reminders that she had on herself of the battle. Turning her hands over so her palms faced the floor, the celestial mage looked at the pink Fairy Tail symbol displayed oh-so proudly on the back of her right hand. Grabbing her right hand in her left, Lucy dug her nails into her flesh, into the guild mark. She didn't release her grip until thin trails of blood dripped and mixed with the salty tears on the wooden floor.

The mage stood uncertainly on her feet, the fresh wounds already scabbing. Slipping back out the door, Lucy walked into the corridor, the door closing with a light thump. Her face was streaked from tears, but her eyes were now cold and dry. She shuffled down the hallway, the torches casting shadows across her face, hiding her eyes that, even though she had emotionally shut down, were rimmed with red.

Ghastly figures haunted the cherry walls as Lucy walked, they were long and tall and black as night, all of them the same, and when one would shrink into non-existence, another would appear right behind it. She stopped in front of another door, but when she was raising her hand to knock on the dark oak, she heard the call from inside the office.

"Come in, child."

She grasped the doorknob with trembling fingers and twisted it slowly. The door opened silently on it's hinges, revealing the Guild Master sitting behind his desk, torches lighting up the room brightly with their lacrima rays. Makarov didn't look up from his papers as the girl walked into the office, "Yes?"

Lucy found she couldn't form words, that she had nothing to say to the man sitting behind his desk, to the only man who had acted like a father to her. Instead, she settled on lifting her right hand, the scabs visible on the pink mark, and saying the only thing she could:

"Please."

Makarov looked up at the young girl with pain in his black eyes. A thick wall of silence stood between the two people, both of them hesitant to break it. Lucy was trembling, her hand wavering in the air. She closed her chocolate brown eyes to prevent showing more weakness, but one tear slipped through rolling down her cheek like liquid silver.

"Please."

Her voice was raspy and barley carried through the room, but there it hung, weighing down on the both of them. Makarov finally opened his mouth and said, "Are you sure?"

Lucy bit her lip and nodded, her blonde hair falling around her shoulders, she closed her eyes, expecting the removal to be painful, but instead she felt two warm arms wrap around her as Makarov whispered into her ear, "If you wish it to be, my child."

She opened her eyes to see her arms wrapped around the Guild Master and the pink on the back of her right hand slowly disappearing, replacing itself with sparkles in the air. The sparkles flitted about for a moment before fading. Makarov continued to whisper in her ear as he held her tighter.

"If you truly intend to leave us child, there are three conditions:

One, you must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live. Two, you must not have unauthorized contact with past clients or profit personally from them."

Makarov released Lucy in his embrace and held her by her shoulder, his black eyes staring into her brown ones.

"Three," A single tear rolled down his cheek, "Even if we walk different paths, one must always live on as strong as you are able." Lucy found herself crying as well, tear after tear rolling down her face but her arms would not rise to wipe them away, "You must never treat your own life as insignificant."

The celestial mage bit her lip, "Master..." She choked out.

The Guild Master's voice began to crack as he recited the final verse, "You must never forget," He inhaled a shaky breath, "...the friends you love..." Tears rolled freely down his face now, his grip tightening on the girl's shoulders, "...for as long as you live." Makarov pulled her into an embrace once more and whispered one final, ad libbed line.

Standing tall once more, Makarov returned to his desk, sitting calmly behind it and he said, "Now go, child, for you have your whole future ahead of you."

Lucy bit her lip and turned on her heel, running out of the office, out of the guild and into the now raining night. She ran as the water torrented her, she ran as the cold bit into her skin, she ran as the wind buffeted her face, she ran blindly through the night as she wiped away the tears she thought she had already cried away. She had foolishly thought that she had finished crying, that she was done with Fairy Tail, that she was done with her old life. That she could just cry for a night and then shed her skin like a toy lost to a child, that all she needed was to get away from there.

But she still continued to cry as she ran past the houses on Magnolia, she still cried as she ran across the bridge, she sobbed as she passed the bare branches of Magnolia's rainbow sakura trees, she weeped as she ran past the beach with the sea glittering like broken sapphires in the light of the full moon. She cried and cried and ran and ran until her legs burned with pain and she felt empty once more.

Unable to see through the rain and tears, she veered off and collapsed on a bench, on the far side of town. Her eyes began to close as she tried to ignore the pain she felt. Before she fell into sleep, she remembered the thing that her Gu- former Guild Master had told her.

"You can always come back, no matter how much you have changed, how much evil you have done, or how many years it has been. Fairy Tail will always be a home to you."

A single crystal tear rolled down Lucy's face before the demons of sleep grabbed a hold of her and didn't let her go until the sun would rise.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

The feels! ;c

Sorry for taking so long to update, I've been busy with school and such.

There is an email on my profile that you can use that if you would like to contact me or if you would like to submit an idea for the antagonist that Team Fairy Tail fought. The antagonist is not any villain that is found in anything, whether in Fairy Tail or any other story.. I have a bit of an idea for him/her, but not really. So yes, you guys get to help me create a villain! Hooray! Hopefully the next chapter will be updated faster then this one :/

_R&R!_


	3. Acceptance

**Author's Note:**

Sorry for the long wait guys! I've been pretty busy for a while! So, here's Honey Glass Chapter 3! I would just like to add a couple notes, in this story, Jiemma never died and Minerva never joined the Dark Guild, so Sting is not Master of Sabertooth. I also assume that Froch is a girl. It always seemed like a girl to me, so I portray it as a girl (And Lector is a guy). Also, I'm holding a mini contest, you guys gets to make up that super villain who will get mentioned throughout the whole story. Whoever has the best design will get their picture as the cover for this story. For the design I will need name, magic, a little background, why FT was battling them, and a picture. The email that you can send it to is on my profile. Thanks! Enjoy the newest chapter!

_R&R!_

* * *

"I think she's dead."

"Fro thinks so too"

"Nah, her chest is moving up and down, she's still breathing."

"Wait, isn't she a stupid Fairy?"

"...She's the one the Lady tortured."

"I wonder what she's doing here."

"She's probably a hobo."

"Fro thinks so too."

"No, they just won the GMG, I doubt she's homeless."

"Then why is she here? The Fairy Tail guild hall has to be at least 6 or 7 miles away."

"Is she lost?"

"I don't know. But why, of all places, is she sleeping on a bench?!"

"I have no idea."

Silence hung upon the air for a moment before a soft voice like a whisper, barely audible, spoke up.

"Fro thinks she looks lonely."

Lucy opened her eyes to see the bubblegum pink of Froch's frog costume. Lector was standing next to her, his finger a centimeter away from Lucy's forehead. The mage's hand zoomed up and grabbed the red Exceed's paw before he could poke her. This action resulted in a scream of "She's awake!" from the Exceed in question.

Sting and Rogue stood behind their Exceed's, Rogue wearing his usual nonchalant expression and Sting's head was cocked, looking in interest at Lucy. Lucy let go of Lector's paw, who then jumped off the bench and grabbed onto Sting's leg. Frosch still stood there, looking straight into Lucy's chocolate eyes.

Coughing lightly, Lucy sat up and brushed off her shirt and skirt, acting as if nothing had happened, that she had not just been caught sleeping on a bench by the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth. She picked up the little bag that miraculously not been stolen, nor had anything been stolen out of it, shouldered it, and started walking once more, going nowhere in particular, just getting as far away from the guildhall as possible.

Sting and Rogue stood still for a moment, shocked stiff at Lucy just brushing past them. The moment passed and Sting was in motion, "Hey, wait!" he grabbed the girl's shoulder, turning her around.

Lucy looked up at Sting, her gaze challenging. "Yes?" she asked,crossing her arms.

"Oh, don't give me that 'yes?' bullshit. Or do you just regularly sleep on benches miles away from your guildhall?" Sting raised one thin eyebrow, his scar moving along with it, his blue eyes holding her stare.

Lucy's jaw clenched, "What I do has no business with you or your guild." She made a move to turn back around, but Sting held onto her shoulder.

"But I guess I can't really be asking about your guildhall anymore." Sting continued as if Lucy had never spoken, "Considering it isn't your guildhall anymore."

Lucy gasped slightly and held her hand to her chest, her fingers covering the empty space on her skin where her guild mark once was.

Sting smirked, "You thought I didn't notice, Blondie?" He used the hand on her shoulder to push her back onto the bench, "Now, explain."

Lucy made a face and clenched her hands, forming into fists, just further pronouncing the lack of symbol as the small moon-shaped wounds stretched across her white knuckles. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it after a moment. She bit her lip, looking down at her lap, avoiding Sting's gaze. To everyone's surprise, Fro climbed into Lucy's lap, laying her head down and closing her eyes.

A small smile appeared on the celestial mage's face as she lifted one hand and gently pet the Exceed. Swallowing, she opened her mouth to speak again and actually managed to produce sound, "I... I couldn't do anything. They... They all had to protect me. I was a... nuisance..." She looked up, a sad look in her chocolate brown eyes, "So... I left. I need to train. And get stronger."

A light breeze blew by, rustling all the leaves on the trees, a few that had already fell skipping across the pavement. A small paper bag moved as well, moving across the white stones. A dog could be heard far off, barking, before it died down, either scolded or just got bored. Near by, a creek bubbled softly. In the moment of quiet, a deer sprang out of the woods, startling the entire party. The doe looked at the five of them with her big eyes for a moment, surveying them, seeming to look into their very souls, before bounding off into another stretch of forest.

Sting turned back to Lucy, a big smile across his face. She looked up at his expression with confusion written all over her face. She knew her story was not a particularly happy one, so why was he smiling? How could this man smile so big when she was weighed down inside with all of her guilt?

Sting held out his hand to her, the smile still plastered on his face, "Okay."

Lucy was even more confused by this. "Okay?" she asked, "What are you saying okay to?"

Sting chuckled a bit, "We'll train you. Rogue and I. Right, Rogue?" He looked over his shoulder at his fellow Dragon Slayer.

Rogue gave a single nod of the head and, as if in response, Fro nuzzled further into Lucy's lap.

"But! But you guys are Dragon Slayers! What do you know about Celestial magic?" Lucy protested.

"I have a feeling that it's not just your magic that's falling short. You should probably learn some non-magical fighting moves. I mean, you have your whip and all, but in close combat, you fall short." Sting stated simply.

Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it. Her mouth twisted before she said, "Where would you even train me?"

Sting jerked a thumb in the direction in which Lucy had been heading, "Rogue and I have a cabin at the base of that mountain. We can train you there."

Lucy looked toward where Sting was pointing and was about to nod before she thought of something, "So you expect me to stay in a secluded mountainside cabin with just you and Rogue?!"

Sting snorted at her assumption but Rogue actually spoke up, "We're not pigs, Lucy. And you won't be the only female. Froch will be there."

At the mention of her name, the green exceed perked up from her position on Lucy's lap, "Fro thinks that Lucy should come stay with us."

Lucy bit her lip once more, looking between the mountain, Sting, Froch, and Rogue (she had completely forgotten about Lector). After several moment of hesatation, she threw up her hands in exasperation, "Fine!"

Sting smirked, "Good. As the first part of your training, you will hike up to our cabin from here with as little guidance from us as possible. It's pretty much a straight shot from here."

Lucy gulped, looking up at the mountain once more, which had once seemed so close but now felt so far away.


End file.
